To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes even better than, the establishing of a new truth or fact (Charles Darwin)

Monday, February 13, 2006

The Daily Star does Syrian propaganda

To commemorate the first anniversary of the Hariri assassination, the Daily Star, Lebanon' s "top English-language paper", published a "first person" opinion article by none other than Bouthaina Shaaban, Syrian propagandist and co-conspirator against Lebanon and its people.

With Lebanon still reeling from Syrian terrorism and destabilization tactics, the latest of which was a Syrian sponsored Islamist attack on Christians, the Daily Star goes to Syria for some propaganda under the title "Islamophobia: A second Holocaust in the making."

Shaaban basically emulated an Iranian revolutionary guard "commander" who said last week that democratically elected German chancellor Angela Merkel "thinks she's Hitler."

Germany, once again, apologizes for the Holocaust and is willing to do what it takes to redeem itself - even if it was financing a second Holocaust against the Palestinian people...

It seems like a new crusade has started against Arabs and Muslims in the wake of September 11, 2001, led by neo-European Nazism. The victims are no longer the Jews, but Muslims spread over Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Pakistan, and anywhere around the globe.

The wars, bombings and secret prisons where suspect Muslims are tortured and killed are but few aspects of the "crusade" U.S. President George W. Bush launched. Was it not for so much contradictory evidences, we could have passed it for another of his many misfortunate slips of the tongue.

It gets better. Here it comes:

Along a number of unjustified wars, sanctions and pressure policies against Arab and Muslim countries, intensive media campaigns rally to deform the face of Muslims and Islam. Even as citizens of Western democracies, Muslims find themselves subject to legal and political acts of hatred and harassment.

Yes, Shaaban's Syria is part of the crusade against Islam. This makes us, Lebanese people who want justice, crusaders bent on destroying Muslims everywhere. Never mind that Shaaban's master and his father before him killed and jailed more "Muslims" than an actual crusade.

Shaaban then launches a tirade against Denmark, "the country heading the spear of hatred against Islam and Muslims." WHERE IS JUAN COLE? One of his idiotic posts claimed there is no evidence that Syria and Iran were inciting riots. To prove that, he said he looked in FBIS (the CIA's media monitoring database) and Lexis Nexis and found no articles in the Syrian press containing "Syria and Denmark". I posted a comment correcting him, but he doesn't publish comments that prove him wrong by pointing out the levels of access in FBIS, and the fact that it is stupid to look for evidence of such incitement in the Syrian media. Or that he misspelled Condoleezza Rice's name when he said: "Condaleeza Rice is a Liar. " (Who gave him a PhD?)

More from Shaaban:

Within this context, the cartoon contest organized by Yandposten came as a natural result. Facts show that Europe is launching a new Holocaust against Muslims around the world. What is happening to Muslims in Europe today is almost identical with what the Jews suffered at the beginning of the century.

Yes, millions of Muslims in Europe are being put on trains and sent to gas chambers. Good work, Daily Star editors! Why bother intervene on the side of good journalism?

And then this jewel:

"Freedom of the press" and "freedom of expression" do not permit violating or ridiculing other people's sanctities.

Ignoring the Syrian regime crimes against the Lebanese press for a second, I will let this February 8 story from AFP answer her:

DAMASCUS, Feb 8, 2006 (AFP) - Syrian security services pressed a clampdown on dissidents this month despite their inaction in the face of violent protests outside European diplomatic missions in Damascus, a leading rights lawyer said.

On Tuesday evening, agents arrested writer Adel Fayad in the Mediterranean port of Tartus for publishing articles opposing the regime on the Internet, said lawyer Anwar Bunni, who heads the Syrian Centre for Legal Studies.

Interpreter Abdul Mughith Habab was meanwhile due in court on charges of insulting President Bashar al-Assad after being first detained a month ago for mentioning the existence of courts of exception under Syria's 43-year-old state of emergency to journalists he was working for.

Students, Ali Ali and Hussam Melhem, were also detained in Damascus 10 days ago for setting up a discussion group, Bunni added.

"The Syrian authorities are tolerating acts of violence perpetrated by demonstrators against European embassies but are severely repressing peaceful activities," he complained. He was referring to a large demonstration Saturday against the publication in Europe of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed which saw the Danish mission stormed, with serious damage done to the Chilean embassy, and the Norwegian mission also attacked.

Finally, this:

Nazis accused Jews of violence and terrorism. They launched media wars of hatred against their faith and sanctities. The result was the Holocaust; one of the ugliest crimes against humanity.

How about Syria's crimes against humanity? How about the Syrian media's war of hatred against Lebanon? What about the murder of journalists and men who dared say no to the Syrian dictator? Who are the Nazis here?

How about the Daily Star publishing this rubbish today of all days?

Freedom of speech? Not for those who kill free people. And not when the Daily Star collects donations in the name of supporting "free press in Lebanon."

Besides the timing and the authorship of a "co-conspirator" i was not surprised by the "rubbish"" eminating from the DailyStar on this issue. I guess that the editorial of February 8, 2006 by Rami Khouri was so outrageous in its premises and claims at objectivity and eruditness that it prepared the way for this article that is devoid of any meaningful sense of logic. We have become accustomed to this kind of rhetoric and baseless accusations by the Syrian Ba'ath but shame on the Dailystar for acting as an organ of propagating this kind of irresponsible and malicious journalism.

Re Rami Khoury's Feb 8 opinion piece. I agree with Gassan. It was worse than crap you read on Syria-Comment and Angry-shit.

The worse part, again, is that these people claim to represent new thinking and change from the prevailing PARALYSIS and BANKRUPCY, when they dish out the same ideas in barely better English than Buthaina.

kais, thank u for continuing to hold the daily shit to the fire. i have no idea why vox insists on defending the DS each and every time they are criticized. perhaps he is related to jamil mroue's uncle's brother's mother's cousin's grandniece. in all seriousness, why such a staunch defender vox? they fail to meet the mark every time i dive into Lebanon's "best english paper".

“FUTURE TV and NAHARNET estimated around a million Lebanese filled Martyrs' Square in downtown Beirut today to commemorate the killing of Rafik Hariri”

Dude, did it ever occur to you that both of these “reliable sources” you’re quoting from were 100%-owned Saudi media with a blatant conflict of interest?Would you have trusted the Pravda to publish accurate figures on say the number of demonstrators in Gdansk back in the Halcyon days of comrade Leonid Brezhnev?

As for you neurotic fixation on the secular Syrian regime, when everyone and their Paki janitor knows the anti-Danish campaign is orchestrated by Saudi Arabia’s fanatical Wahhabi preachers, well this only serves to show once more the abysmal lows to which the gullible March 14 dupes have sunk...

About Me

After dabbling in traditional journalism, the journey from Beirut to the beltway left me free and anonymous in the blogosphere, where I transcend geography and write about Lebanon from a towering spot inside the capital beltway.